God the Holy Spirit will enable
me, I want to talk to you for a little bit about the path of
the just. If you'll find two texts of Scripture,
Isaiah chapter 26 verse 7 and Proverbs chapter 4 verse 18. Twice here in the book of God,
the Spirit of God speaks of the path of the just. Isaiah 26 verse
7. The way of the just is uprightness. Thou most upright dost weigh
the path of the just. Proverbs chapter four, verse
18. The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth
more and more unto the perfect day. It is common for preachers
to try to get people to move to where they ought to be. And
get folks to do the things they ought to do. And they hold over
you rules and regulations and laws and threats and promises
to get you to be and do what you ought to be and do. I find
it more in line with scripture to tell you what you are. in
Christ Jesus the Lord. What God has done for you in
his Son. Oh Spirit of God, as we see what
you, our God, have done for us, as we observe Your wonders of
grace making us what we are in Christ Jesus, complete in Him. Let our hearts and our minds
and our emotions be overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude and
debt to God for His matchless grace. The just are here spoken
of. Who are they? They're God's people. those who have been made just
and made righteous by Christ. The righteousness of Christ has
been made ours and is justly imputed to us. It is made ours
and justly imputed to us. As when Christ was made sin for
us, our sins were justly imputed to him. So his righteousness,
the very righteousness of God has been made ours and his righteousness
is justly imputed to us. He gives us righteousness and
declares us righteous. The holiness of Christ has been
imparted to us by God the Holy Ghost in the new birth. That's
what sanctification is. It is God making sinners by nature,
holy by grace. He doesn't change the old man,
doesn't change the old nature. He puts a new man, a new nature
in you. It is Christ in you, the hope
of glory. He is our holiness and we have
been made sanctification in him. Being born of God and taught
of God, the just are people who live soberly, righteously and
godly in this present world. The just are people who are justified. Justified. Made equal to all
that the law demands. Justified. The just are righteous. Righteous before God and righteous
in their conduct. The just are holy, sanctified
people. The path in which we walk is
Christ himself. Our Savior, the Lord Jesus, is
the path of the just, the way, the truth, and the life. In him,
we live and move and have our being. Through his precious blood
and righteousness, by his sin-atoning sacrifice, we go to God for grace
and mercy, for peace and pardon, for acceptance and guidance.
We come to God by him. for fresh supplies of grace.
And by him, in him, with him, we walk in sweet communion with
God. We walk in sweet communion with
God. Christ is the path of the just. He is the way of the just. the
way to God, the way of life, the way of holiness, the way
to heaven. And he shows us the way all through
this world of sin, sorrow, and sighing. He leads us in the way
of truth, of righteousness, and holiness. He directs us in the
path of duty and in the path of obedience. He shows us the
way of God, which is our way and leads us in it. The path
of the just, we read here, is as the shining of light that
shineth more and more unto the perfect day. It's like the rising
of the sun in the east after a long night of darkness. At
first, it appears just as a glimmering ray of light coming up over the
horizon. When the chosen sinner is born
of God, the darkness is past and the true light now shineth.
But unlike the sun that rises every morning and sets every
night, Christ, the son of righteousness, having risen in our souls, shines
more and more brightly upon our souls and in our souls. He rises
and shines and His light shines more brightly until the perfect
day comes when we awaken His likeness. The brighter the sun
shines, the more clearly we see our vileness, our corruption,
our depravity, the evil of our hearts, the evil of our ways,
the evil of our lives, the filthiness of our righteousnesses. And the
brighter the sun shines, the more magnificent the pearl of
great price appears. The brighter the sun shines,
the more brilliantly the golden treasure of his grace shines
in our hearts. Now go back to Isaiah 26, Isaiah
26. You'll find my text tonight in
verses 7, 8, and 9. The way of the just is uprightness. The prophet does not say the
way of the just ought to be uprightness. He does not say you should strive
to walk in the way of uprightness. He says, if you're just, justified
before God, justified by faith in Christ Jesus, the way of the
just is uprightness. Thou most upright dost weigh
the path of the just. Our God, he is most upright. Yea, in the way of thy judgments,
If you're taking notes, write out the word providence. All
the acts of God in this earth are the judgments of God in his
providence. In the way of thy judgments,
O Lord, have we waited for thee. The desire of our soul as we
wait before you, observing your providence, is to thy name and
the remembrance of thee. Lord, as you turn to next page,
let us see your glory. Let us remember you. With my
soul, verse nine, have I desired thee in the night. Yea, with
my spirit within me will I seek thee early. For when thy judgments
are in the earth. When I behold your works of providence
in the earth, the inhabitants of the world, that is these just
ones in the world, will learn righteousness. When Isaiah spoke
of the day of God's grace and salvation, he described those
who are saved by God's almighty grace as a people who walk with
God in living communion, sweet day-by-day communion. Communion
with God is the way of the just. If you don't get anything else
from this message, I want you to get that. Communion with God
is the way of the just. I did not say communion with
God ought to be the way of the just. Communion with God is the
way of the just. Like Enoch of old, all who believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ walk with God. All who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ walk with God. We tend to be greatly influenced.
I was talking to Brother Lindsey about this before anyone else
came in the office tonight. We talk, we are greatly influenced
by human thought, human religion all around us. It's just part
of us, part of the thinking of humanity. And we tend to use
biblical terms and biblical phrases in a horrible, horrible way to
promote personal self-righteousness. That's horrible. How often have
you heard folks speak of an old preacher, an old man, an old
woman, oh, he really walked with God. Now there's a man who walks
with God. Because you observe something
about them that stood out as a characteristic of what you
consider to be a character of one who walks with God. But then
there are other believers who, well, they kinda sorta somehow
maybe believe in Jesus, but you wouldn't really say they walk
with God. He who believes on the Son of God walks with God. The way of the just is communion
with God. There is, in every believer's
life, sweet communion with God in Christ. Some enjoy the experience
of communion more intimately and more fully. but all believers
walk with God in sweet communion. You see that word communion is
the word fellowship. Truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. That's the language
of the book. Truly our communion is with the
Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. If the life of God is
in me, And if Christ is in you, being born again, that's the
life of God in you, Bill Rahner. God comes and takes up residence
in you. If the life of God is in me, I walk with God. If the life of God is in me,
I have communion with God. If I don't walk with God, if
I don't have communion with God, the life of God is not in me.
And before you can know God and have communion with God, you
must be born again by the Spirit of God. Let's look at some scripture
tonight. Turn to John chapter three. Very
familiar passage of scripture. John chapter three. You're very
familiar with it. Nicodemus came to Jesus by night
and said, good master, we know thou art a teacher come from
God, for no man can do these miracles thou doest except God
be with him. And the Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus,
you're as ignorant as a box of rocks. He said, you don't know
anything. You just think you know. He says
in verse three, barely, barely I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He cannot
understand any spiritual thing. He cannot understand any spiritual
thing. He can't see the kingdom of God.
He doesn't know anything spiritual. No point in talking to lost men
about spiritual things. They don't know. They don't know. I don't care if they've got 25
Harvard degrees. They don't know. You gotta be
born again to see the kingdom of God. Verse four, Nicodemus
saith unto him, how can the man be born when he is old? He still
thinks he knows. He still thinks he's smart and
he understands things. Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Being the smart aleck religionist
he was, he asked a smart aleck question. He said, do you expect
the fellow to crawl back into his mother's belly and be born
again? How can that be? How stupid a question. But the
master answers him on the ground he gives him. Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Man must be born a natural man, but he must be born a new man.
He must be born in a natural way in this world, but if he's
gonna enter the kingdom of God, he's got to be born of the Spirit.
Read again. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, it'll never change. That which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
ye must be born again. Now you ask, how can this be?
The wind bloweth where it listeth. Thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth.
So is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered
and said unto him, how can these things be? How can these things
be? And the Lord Jesus answered him,
art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things?
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and
testify that we have seen, and you receive not our witness.
If I've told you earthly things and you believe not, how shall
you believe if I tell you heavenly things? And no man hath ascended
up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son
of Man, which is in heaven. Christ is the only way to God.
Verse 14, how can a man be born again? How can a man be made
new in Christ? How can this, how does the Spirit
of God come to a man? As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
Christ must be lifted up upon the curse tree and he must be
lifted up in the preaching of the word that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish but have eternal life. And all of
this has come to pass because God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish but have everlasting life. If you would be born again,
If you would know God, God must reveal himself to you. And the
revelation of God is Jesus Christ. It is the revelation of God given
by his spirit, given by his word, given by his operation of grace,
putting Christ in you. You come to know God when Christ
is formed in you by the spirit of God. Christ is revealed to
you when Christ is revealed in you. Men and women believe on
the Lord Jesus when the Lord Jesus comes in to their lives,
comes in to their hearts, and makes himself your life, makes
himself your Savior, and reconciles you to God by his matchless grace. This is the power of God by which
we are saved. The power of God by which we
live. The power of God by which we
walk with God. But there is something else.
If you would have eternal life, you must come to God for it. You must come to God by faith
in Jesus Christ. You must come to God. Faith in
Christ is described as looking to Christ. Faith in God is described
as leaning on Christ. Faith in Christ is described
as touching Him. Faith in Christ is described
as coming to Him. The life of the believer is a
life of coming to God. The first motion of spiritual
life in the soul. is the return of the sinner to
his God. The Lord Jesus is able to save
to the uttermost all who come to God by him. And he has promised
in his word, him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out. What a promise. Him that cometh
to me. I'm often asked, how do I come
to Christ? Any way you can get to Him, be
all right. Any way you can get to Him, be all right. Him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Come to Him and He'll
never let you go. Come to Him, He'll never cast
you out. Faith in Christ, spiritual life,
the life of grace is coming to Christ. This coming to Christ
is not isolated act of faith. It is not continual acts of faith,
but rather this coming to Christ is the continual life of every
heaven-born soul. I have come to Him, I am coming
to Him, and I shall come to Him. That's what it is to walk by
faith, to believe God, to come to God. We come to God through
faith in Christ, our mediator. We come to him all the days of
our lives, walking with God in sweet communion. As we behold
the glory of God in the face of Christ, we obtain from our
Savior by faith in him, peace and rest and hope. And in proportion
as we know more of God, as he reveals himself to us in the
person of his Son, we grow in faith, we grow in grace, we grow
in the knowledge of Christ. This knowledge of God, this knowledge
of God in Christ is the meat and drink of our soul. This knowledge
of God is eating the bread of heaven. It is drinking the water
of life, day by day walking with him. And believing God, faith
ever seeks to know God in his son. You who are God's tell me,
Do you not long to know Christ more today than ever? Do you
not long to know more of his grace, his mercy, his glory,
his accomplishments, his promises than ever before? The Apostle
Paul, when he was an older, experienced believer, said, oh, that I may
know him. I want to know him and the power
of his resurrection. That is, I want to know him in
the power of this new life. I want to know him in the fellowship
of his suffering. I want to know my participation
in all that he endured. I want to know him being made
conformable to his death. I want so to know him that I
am molded after his likeness, that I bow to God in all things. The most important, most beautiful,
most useful, most practical aspect of every believer's life is this
matter of communion with God by faith in Christ. Mary is described
as that one who chose that good part which should not be taken
from her. She was found sitting at the
Savior's feet, hearing his word. That's the place of proper humility. That's the place of instruction. That's the place of worship.
That's the place of service to God at his feet. Walking with God in sweet fellowship,
partnership, participation, communion. So that as we walk through this
world, God walks with us. and we walk
with him. A life so intermingled that it's
one life. A life so intermingled that we
live in partnership and participation with God Almighty himself. Communion with God is the fountain
of all that our Savior calls good work. That same Mary, we
read of in Mark chapter 14, took her alabaster box of ointment,
spikened, very precious, and she came to Simon's house and
anointed the Lord for his burial. and the disciples following the
lead of Judas. There's a sermon in that. We
have a terrible tendency to follow Judas. That's our tendency. The
best of us. We have a terrible tendency to
follow folks who pretend godliness. We have a terrible tendency to
follow Judas' example. They murmured against her. What a waste. What a waste. Why, you could have saved that
money and given it to the poor, you could have done much good
with that money. What a waste, and the master rebuked them all. He said, this woman has wrought
a good work on me. What'd she do? Something for
Christ, because she believed him. because she understood what
the other disciples apparently did not understand. She understood
that he was about to go right then and be crucified in her
stead, and right then to rise again to declare her justified,
and she anointed him in preparation for his burial. Who knew or did
more for Christ and his glory than that dear lady? She hath
wrought a good work on me. If we would serve God, if we
would serve the generation in which we live, if we would be
a benefit to one another, if we would be useful to the souls
of men, if we would know God and honor him, We must seek constantly
to walk with him in sweet communion, believing Christ, coming to him. This is the path of the just.
Now let me wrap this up by repeating in your hearing those five things
I put in the bulletin last week in preparation for this message.
These five things about the path of the just. God help you to
hear his word and his message. Number one, the path of the just
is the life of faith. This communion with God that
causes believers to walk in uprightness. All who are justified by the
righteousness of Christ imputed to them, are sanctified by the
holiness of Christ imparted to them in the new birth. Believers
are new creatures in Christ. They are partakers of the divine
nature. And that new man created in righteousness
and true holiness, Christ in you, walks with God in uprightness. Believers walk in uprightness. Over the years, I have had to
deal with heretics, some personally known, others known only by things
they wrote or preached. And I've had a good many over
the years to suggest that if you believe on Jesus, your character
and conduct don't matter. Nothing is more contrary to the
word of God. Your character and your conduct
do not make you accepted with God. Your character and your
conduct do not give you a foot up toward God. But God's grace
in you determines your character and your conduct. The path of
the just is uprightness. The Apostle Paul writes to the
Ephesians and talks to them about theft and malice and backbiting
and lying and cheating and stealing, fornication and adultery and
idolatry. And then he says, but you have
not so learned Christ. You didn't learn that from Christ.
I don't care where you got it, you didn't get that from Christ.
You have not so learned Christ. He tells Titus, to instruct folks
in sound doctrine, in good doctrine, to be advantageous to the people
whom he serves in the cause of Christ. Instruct them in good
doctrine. Teach them to adorn the doctrine
of God our Savior in all things. The path of the just is the path
of uprightness. I don't hold over you. laws and
rules, regulations, threats of punishment or loss or promises
of reward of any kind. I don't even try to find out
what you do. I really don't. I don't, I'm
your pastor and I don't behave like I was taught to behave as
a pastor, neither amongst our many in will worshipers nor amongst
reformed legalists. I don't try to find out what
you do. When we observe the Lord's table, you may have noticed I
never look up. I never, I don't want to know
who takes the bread and wine. That's none of my business. I
urge you not to. It's none of your business either.
It's none of my business. That's your relationship with
God. I could at any time look at the books and see who gives
what. I've never done so in the 39 years I've been your pastor.
Don't care what you give. I don't want to know what you
give or don't give. I don't want to know. That's
not my business. I don't want to interfere with
how I minister to your souls. I don't set before you rules
and regulations. I tell you what God says to you.
Adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. My brothers
and my sisters, young and old, live for God and that's all right. Live for God, that's all right. You'll stump and trip and fall
along the way. I'll be there to pick you up
if I can. Live for God, that's all right. Just live for Him,
for His glory, for His honor, for the interest of His kingdom,
for the fervence of His gospel. Live for God and you'll live
right. Adorn the doctrine of God our
Savior in all things. What's that mean, preacher? You
know exactly what that means. Anybody here doesn't know what
that means? Anybody? You men, you live for your families,
don't you? You work hard. I know there's
a lot of self involved in that. I know that. Oh my soul, I know that. But
you live for your family. You ladies live for your husbands
and your children. You live for them. You live for
them. Who needs to tell you what it
is to live for God? If Christ is in you, you know
what it is, because you walk with God in sweet communion. You walk with God. Second, the
path of the just is waiting. Look at verse eight. Communion
with God is waiting for him. A great, great part of living
by faith is simply waiting before God. Yea, in the way of thy judgments,
in the way of thy judgments, your providence, your doings,
O Lord, have we waited for thee. And as we wait for you, the desire
of our soul is to thy name, to the remembrance of thee. These past two years, David,
Teresa, and their family, man, it's been a yo-yo, up and down. And you believe God and rejoice,
and then you weep because you can't. You believe God and wait,
and you weep because you don't know what to do. We wait before
Him. Struggling with our unbelief,
struggling with our selfishness, struggling with our sin, we wait
in the way of his judgments. This waiting doesn't imply indifference
or idleness, rather faith and diligence. To wait on God is
to believe him. And while we believe him, we're
sometimes afraid. and say, well, David, what time?
I'm afraid I will trust in thee. Sometimes while we wait on him,
we're troubled with unbelief and we hurry and worry, but faith
waits. In our unbelief, we're fearful
and cowardly, but faith waits with confidence and courage.
To wait on God is to stand on the tiptoe of faith and look
for God to fulfill his promise, his word, to take you by the
hand and lead you, upholding you with the right hand of his
righteousness. To wait on him is serving him, doing his bidding,
serving his household, doing his will. Solomon said, he that
waiteth on his master shall be honored. We wait on God, wait
on him. Doing what we know he'd have
us to do, doing what he's put us here to do, waiting for him. This waiting is expectation. It's the anticipation of God's
goodness. The anticipation of God's mercy. And you wait for him. In time, he shows you his way.
My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from
him. Third, the path of the just is
the path of desire. Faith is desiring God. Communion with God is desiring
God. The desire of our soul is to
thy name and to the remembrance of thee. God's name represents
all that he is, all that he reveals himself to be, all his glory,
all his work. We desire to remember him at
all times, to have before our minds and our hearts his character,
his word, his glory, and to remember him. Oh, to remember him. I was talking to Brother Donnie
Bell the other day. I told him something humorous
that I learned when I was four or five years old. He said, I
can't remember that. I can remember the most frivolous,
insignificant things. I can remember jokes and stories
I heard before I started in school. I can tell you when I heard them.
I remember them like it was yesterday. But things of importance and
significance, that's another story. How I wish I had a memory
so narrow that it could hold nothing but God and the things
of God, his people, his cause, and his glory. Our desire is
to remember him, to remember his covenant, his accomplishments,
his grace, his mercy, his day-by-day providence, His person, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost. To remember Him when I awake
in the morning. To remember Him as I go through
the day. To remember Him when I lay down
at night. And this is intensely personal.
Look at this text. I don't think I noticed this
before. In verse eight, it's plural. In verse nine, it's singular. Yea, in the way of thy judgments,
O Lord, have we waited for thee. The desire of our soul is to
thy name, to the remembrance of thee. That's true with regard
to God's people. Now, this is personal. This is personal. I hope you
can get in it with me. With my soul, have I desired
thee in the night, Yea, with my spirit within me will I seek
thee early. For when thy judgments are in
the earth, when I see your hand of providence, the inhabitants
of the world, that is chosen redeemed sinners in this world,
will learn righteousness. When Isaiah describes the desire
of the church toward God, He couldn't help stating his personal
desire. With my soul have I desired thee
in the night of trial, in the night of spiritual darkness,
in the night of personal languishing. Now look at this fourth thing.
The path of the just is the path of seeking, seeking after God. Communion with God causes men
and women to seek him. Yea, with my spirit within me
will I seek thee. The person who trusts Christ
is one who seeks him. He knows his need of him. He
seeks him where he is to be found, in his word, in his house, among
his people. He seeks him by prayer. He seeks him by the power of
his grace, seeking him. and those who seek him find him. When you seek for me with all
your heart, you shall find me. Graciously, he forces us to seek
him with all our hearts. and gives us nowhere else to
go, and seeking with all our hearts, we find Him. The Apostle
Paul said, I count all my righteousness, all my privilege, all my knowledge,
all my works, all my experience, I count the whole thing just
waste, dung, just dung, that I may know Him, that I may win
Christ, that I may be found in Him, and formed at last in the
likeness of his resurrection. Those who believe God walk with
God in sweet communion, seeking him. One last thing. Walking
with God by faith, walking in the path of the just, in sweet
communion with God, the righteous learn by his providential mercies. by the providential mercies of
our Heavenly Father. When thy judgments are in the
earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Verse 10 tells us that the wicked
inhabitants of the earth neither learn by God's favor nor by his
judgments, but the believer. While he walks in this world,
he walks with God. And he's taught of God. And he
learns by the things God does in providence. Even by his providential
judgments. Again, I stress, understand the
word judgments, his acts. Not acts of punishment, judgment.
Acts of discretion. Acts of wisdom. Acts of God. By his works of providence, we
learn to look upon temporal things as temporal, and eternal things
as eternal. Learning by his judgments, we
learn to value Christ, his people, and his gospel aright. And we
learn righteousness, the value of righteousness, where righteousness
is to be found. We learn of God to look away
from all things to Christ, who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. And learn of
God to glory in the Lord. That's what it is to walk in
the path of the just. That's what it is to live in
communion with God. That's what it is to walk with
God. Amen.